Philosophy, Science and Religion mark three of the most fundamental modes of thinking about the world and our place in it. Are these modes incompatible? Put another way: is the intellectually responsible thing to do to ‘pick sides’ and identify with one of these approaches at the exclusion of others? Or, are they complementary or mutually supportive? As is typical of questions of such magnitude, the devil is in the details. For example, it is important to work out what is really distinctive about each of these ways of inquiring about the world. In order to gain some clarity here, we’ll be investigating what some of the current leading thinkers in philosophy, science and religion are actually doing.
This course, entitled ‘Science and Philosophy’, is the first of three related courses in our Philosophy, Science and Religion Online series. The first launch is now closed to enrolments. We will launch a new version of the course in July 2018. The course will address four themes each presented by guest lecturers:
1. Are Science and Religion in conflict? (Professor Michael Murray, Franklin & Marshall)
2. Neuroscience and Free Will (Professor Al Mele, Florida State)
3. Creationism and Evolutionary Biology--Science or Pseudo-science? (Dr. Mark Harris and Dr. David de Pomerai, University of Edinburgh)
4. Do Scientific claims constitute absolute truths? (Professor Martin Kusch, University of Vienna)
The second and third courses in the Philosophy, Science and Religion series are ‘Philosophy and Religion’ and ‘Religion and Science’. They may be taken in any order and completing all three courses will give you a broader understanding of this fascinating topic. Look for:
• Philosophy, Science and Religion II: Philosophy and Religion
• Philosophy, Science and Religion III: Religion and Science
Check out our trailer to hear more: https://youtu.be/OifqTI5VKek
You can also follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EdiPhilOnline and you can follow the hashtag #psrmooc

Reviews

CB

I really enjoyed this course and the effort it put forth to open the dialogue of religion, science and philosophy. Thank you for creating a space to openly discuss belief.

TS

Jun 21, 2017

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

Precise and to the point! In the time and space we dwell in, this course is of utmost importance and the respected professors are of undeniable excellence.

From the lesson

Evolution and Creationism

This module starts with Dr. Mark Harris presenting the history of creationist views and what is claimed about evolution by different creationist approaches. Professor David de Pomerai then goes on to explain what evolutionary biology is.

Taught By

Dr J Adam Carter

Dr Orestis Palermos

Professor Mark Harris

Professor Duncan Pritchard

Transcript

Evolution and creationism. David de Pomerai, New College, University of Edinburgh. The concept of evolution. "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution," as Theodosius Dobzhansky remarked in 1973. Evolutionist is the underlying process that gave rise to the prodigious variety of living organisms on earth, otherwise biodiversity, including ourselves. It has generated countless new species during the history of life, of which 99 percent are now extinct. Each species is adapted to its local environment or ecological niche. But changes in climate, geography or biotic factors such as other organisms alter that environment over varying timescales, causing extinction or providing opportunities to diversify into new better adapted species termed Speciation. Five mass extinction events have punctuated Earth's history, the most recent wiping out the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. There is little doubt that a sixth such event has been set in motion by anthropogenic climate change. Current evolutionary ideas stem principally from Charles Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859. Evolution can be summarized as descent with modification, but this phrase requires unpicking. Animals or plants normally give rise to similar offspring despite minor variations. The so-called neo-Darwinian synthesis combines Darwin's insights with those of genetics stemming from Mendel's work on the inheritance of traits. Descent in multicellular organisms usually involves two sets of genetic information; DNA, derived from the father and the mother. This diploid genome consists of long sequences of DNA termed chromosomes, which include the genes each specifying one or more proteins that contribute to the characteristics of the offspring. Variant versions of the same gene known as alleles, often differ in function to a greater or lesser extent. However, protein-coding genes comprise only a small fraction of the total DNA genome and much of the rest has regulatory functions that are not yet fully understood. Some genes are duplicated and extra copies may become redundant pseudo-genes or specialized for new functions. Darwin envisaged a tree of life whose branches ramify into new species twigs. The fact that all living things use DNA as their genetic material with similar mechanisms for translating that information via RNA into proteins, implies that they have all diversified from a common ancestor.

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